![]() ![]() I come out of a coffin and sing my own songs.' He said, 'Oh, that sounds a bit different.'" ![]() The club's manager said, 'You don't copy Elvis, Eddie or Gene, do you?' I said, 'No. "But they were all either copying Elvis, Eddie Cochran or Gene Vincent. "At that time Cliff Richard, Johnny Steele and Gary Glitter (then known as Paul Raven) were all playing there," he recalls. The group's next job was at the trendy 2i's Coffee Bar. It gave them heart attacks! They weren't used to things like that." Then I came out and started grabbing the first two rows of people. "We went onstage with earth-shattering screams coming from the back of the crowd, with the death march playing. "It was a big old pub on the North Circular Road," he recollects of the venue. With a set comprised of self-penned horror-pop tunes, covers of '50s standards and other novelties, Sutch and his back-up band, the Savages, debuted at the Parkhouse Hotel in 1958. At various times, he tells us, he was also known as the 3rd Earl of Harrow, and Lord of Horror and Macabre. (He did eventually change his name officially to Lord Sutch, although some reports will have you believe he was of hereditary royalty). There must have been 10,000 Presley lookalikes walking the street! I figured since nobody could top Presley, I would just do my own stuff."įrom the beginning, Sutch dubbed himself with the pseudo-royal title of "Lord" because he always wore a top hat and tails. "All the local pubs used to have talent nights," he reflects, "and in those days everyone was copying Elvis Presley. I was the local freak."Īccording to Sutch, when he first began performing in the 1950s, the London music scene was focused on only one entertainer. And when I started to grow my hair long, I was treated like an outcast. ![]() "She freaked out! She thought I was completely mad. ![]() His Lordship's mother was not entirely pleased with her son's career plans. Sutch at his surprisingly sedate suburban home to chat about his legendary life.Īn early publicity photo of Screaming Lord Sutch While we were in London, Sara and I met up with the amiable Mr. However, if we are to remain in the common market, Britain needs a much better "deal" than what we have at the moment.īut before Screaming Lord Sutch the Raving Loony, there was Screaming Lord Sutch the eccentric pop star. Nursing staff and doctors should be given a decent wage just as they would if they were privately employed by say, BUPA or PPP.Ĥ) Licensing laws: We believe that the pre-war licensing laws are outdated, and the decision as to when a pub should open or close should be left to the discretion of the landlord.ĥ) Vote at 16: If a 16-year-old is able to get married, have children, and fight wars for our country, then surely, they are responsible enough to vote for the government of their choice.Ħ) Common Market: Withdrawing from the EEC may not be the answer to the country's problems. Sutch sadly died in 1999 but his memory – and The Savages – live on.3) National Health System: We must cut back on wastages. In later years he often came to Honley where his drummer, Sledgehammer Stan (still playing), and the then deputy leader of his party, Boney Maroney, live. His rock and roll band The Savages included many famous musicians and Sutch played with the likes of Richie Blackmore, Keith Moon, Noel Redding, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. In the 1960s he founded the National Teenage Party and began a political career that later saw him launch the Official Monster Raving Loony Party. He combined pop music with Mandy Rice-Davies reading Lady Chatterley’s Lover. The fort was off Southend and, as with everything else he tried, Sutch did it his way. “I have a photograph of him when he ran a station from Shivering Sands Army Fort in the Thames Estuary,” he says. “He was a real character,” he says, adding that not many people know that back in 1963 Sutch attempted to compete with Radio Caroline and other pirate radio stations. MY piece about Screaming Lord Sutch caused reader Colin Liversidge to recall the singer and Monster raving Loony activist fondly. ![]()
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